In freezing climates, snow and ice cause a number of dangerous roadway conditions that are both hazardous and inconvenient. Due to the dramatic increase of driving accidents caused by the slippery conditions of snow or sleet, improving road conditions in a timely and safe fashion is imperative. Though there have been a number of strategies developed to de-ice roadways, disadvantages of current methods range from being destructive to the road structure itself to being cost ineffective. Thus, there is a need for improved de-icing methods and systems.
The concrete heating systems and methods discussed herein provide an electric, self-heating concrete system that uses embedded carbon macrofiber or nanofibers paper as electric resistance heating elements. Various implementations discussed herein utilize the conductive properties of carbon macrofiber or nanofiber materials to heat a surface overlay of concrete with various admixtures to improve the concrete's thermal conductivity. In some embodiments, the self-heating concrete surface utilizes novel carbon macrofiber/nanofiber paper or carbon nanofiber/fiber enhanced concrete as resistive heating elements.